Tom Cruise has reportedly turned down the opportunity to be one of the first recipients of Kennedy Center Honorees under the Donald Trump administration. The 63-year-old Hollywood daredevil is believed to have declined the offer, which according to The Washington Post was personally crafted by the US president, due to “scheduling conflicts.”
A group of current and former Kennedy Center employees told the American news outlet on Wednesday, August 13, shortly after the Trump unveiled the annual honorees of the 48th Kennedy Center awards, recognising American icons’ diverse contributions to performing arts. As a result, the final list of all those Trump seeks to celebrate at this year’s bash has missed out on the Mission Impossible star.
The Top Gun hero will still be receiving an honorary award for all that he’s done for the American film industry before this year ends. According to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences’ previous announcement, he will get his honorary Oscar at the 2025 Governors Awards in November.
As Tom Cruise says no to politics, another Hollywood guy on Trump Team
While Cruise has notably steered clear of politics, his fellow Hollywood honoree Sylvester Stallone earned significant praise from the MAGA leader. The Rambo icon famously wears his badge as a Trump supporter with pride.
As he dealt out the names from his list, Trump also disclosed that he had rejected plenty of names before finalising this year’s honorees. And the reason he gave for turning down those unspecified talents was: “They were too woke. I turned them — I had a couple of wokesters.”
Stallone, on his part, showered the Republican leader with affirmations last year. During his speech at the America First Policy Institute Gala at Mar-a-Lago, the Hollywood actor likened the MAGA boss to George Washington, aka the founding father of America, and his own character, Rocky Balboa.
Taking over the Kennedy Center, the 79-year-old politician aims to turn the upcoming ceremony his own brand of Oscars, while shunning the original gig. “Look at the Academy Awards. It gets lousy ratings. Now it’s all woke. All they do is talk about how much they hate Trump, but nobody likes that,” he said at the time.
“We’re in the presence of a really mythical character,” he said of Trump, calling him the “second George Washgington.” Stallone added, “I love mythology. And this individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody in the world could have pulled off what he pulled off, so I’m in awe… When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world. Because without him, you could imagine what the world would look like. Guess what? We got the second George Washington.”
Trump’s personal picks for the Lifetime Achievement Awards
The 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees are: ‘King of Country’ George Strait, Broadway star Michael Crawford, Rocky star Sylvester Stallone, “I Will Survive” disco queen Gloria Gaynor, and rock band KISS. Just days ago, Trump personally announced the future awardees at the Kennedy Center’s Hall of Nations, admitting he was “very involved” in picking them.
As tradition goes, all those listed as the heroes of arts and culture in the official White House press release will be honoured at the Kennedy Center Honors Gala in December. Although the event will take place on December 7. CBS will air it later, with Paramount+ handling the streaming accessibility.